Thomas Hardy's World: An Illuminating Biography by the late British author Molly Lefebure (
Wikipedia,
obituary @ The Telegraph), a WWII London Blitz reporter turned novelist and scholar who was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature, is her literary author biography
cum cultural milieu study of the eponymous Victorian English novelist and poet (
Wikipedia) whose classic novels have been adapted many times, this one looking into the man himself and his personal life and relationships, as well as the greater Victorian social and political forces which surrounded and influenced him and his works, free for a limited time courtesy of publisher Endeavour Press.
This was originally published in 1996 by Carlton Books using the title
Thomas Hardy's World: The Life, Times and Works of the Great Novelist and Poet.
Currently free @
Amazon (available to Canadians & in the UK and pretty much everywhere else Amazon sells worldwide, since this is being done via their KDP Select exclusive-or-else program)
Description
Thomas Hardy is considered by many as one of England’s greatest writers. His novels, set against the backdrop of Wessex, include Under the Greenwood Tree, Far From the Madding Crowd, and Tess of the D’Urbervilles and have been adapted for film, TV and theatre.
In this richly detailed biography, Molly Lefebure provides a fascinating insight into the life and times of the man behind the works, charting both Hardy’s personal life and relationships (including his tempestuous marriage to his first wife, Emma Gifford) as well as the social and political factors that shaped the Victorian era. In this way, Lefebure demonstrates how both had an undoubtable and instrumental influence on Hardy’s work.
Thomas Hardy’s World is thus a captivating and illuminating biography that paints a fascinating portrait of one of England’s most beloved writers.